. Every new invention needs another new invention - the one that can mass-produce it at an affordable cost For example, Bell Labs Invented a process for making the glass rods from which hair-thin fibers used In lightwave communications can be drawn. The fibers have far greater capacity than conventional copper wires, so they 11 help keep costs down. In fact, they've been carrying voice, data, and video signals under cIty streets for about two years in a Bell System demonstration. But standard lightwave systems will require miles of the fiber, pro- duced at low cost and to specifications nothing short of microscopic. That's where Western Electric's Engine.ering Research Center comes In. A Unique Center The Center is devoted exclu- sively to manufacturing research. Here, a highly trained team of scientists and engineers probe funda- mental questions about materials and processes. They provide Western Electric factories with pre-tested, . - - - . . "':;.;:. "- , ," ; " , - - - - , ' .. ".' "v. ,-, -+-'Ii:', ..... ::::.... ": .. * "-'" 1 '. .:::... "..;:>). ..... ,, ..o:c: . . '.. ........:.0 ... - , -]. .; \ . ) :.. .,r' ... '. .P' ..... - - ' > ---". .. . , ",",' j <<>'" >t ' ::'.. ' "'t.:i '"'!'b-: ,.... .: . . . By correlating the pattern to the fiber's diameter, they were able to build a monitoring system into the fiber drawing machinery. It measures the fiber 1000 times per second, automatically adjusting production to keep the diameter constant. The system works so well that in all the miles of fiber produced by Western Electric, the diameter varies by no more than 30-millionths of an inch proven ways to manufacture products The Key to the F ut ure based on the latest technology coming out of the laboratory. For example, while Bell Labs scientists were inventing new glass fibers, Western Electric engineers and scientists were tackling the manu- facturing problems involved. The fibers had to be drawn from molten glass at high speeds, with less than a 1% deviation in diameter. Buthowdo you control a "thread" of glass being spun at rates up to 15 feet per second? SCIentists and engIneers at the Center discovered that laser light beamed onto the fiber cast a @ characteristic pattern. a Western Electric In the Bell System, technology is the key to keeping costs down. It is the key to constantly improving your phone service And Western Electric's Engi- neering Research Center is an essen- tiallink between the ideas of the laboratory and the realities of the factory. Soyour Bell Telephone Company can make the best one-of-a-kind inve!1tions a part of your phone serVIce. Keepzng your communications system the best in the world.